Creating Pathways For Young Artists 年轻艺术家的指南针

“For me, I want to nurture young artists so that 10 years from now, we will have many more good artists to showcase impressive art works”

With a long list of solo and group exhibitions, locally and internationally, in his belt and multiple awards, Bayu Utomo Radjikin is no stranger in the art industry. The Sabahan, who has a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, is particularly well known for his solo exhibition featuring mainly skulls in his paintings two years ago called “Ada Apa Dengan Tengkorak”.

“There is a future yet for the art industry here and I am sure that one day, our artists will be able to bring this industry up to finally catch up with our neighbouring countries.”

After a break of two years, when he worked on his latest masterpieces, Bayu Utomo launched a solo of his abstract works in “Gejolak” this year at G13 Gallery in Kuala Lumpur. “It is more of an abstract form that is fluid and different from my more figurative works like Tengkorak,” he said about his latest work. He also plans to work on more abstract forms in his future pieces.

“I want to do something that’s different from my previous styles and I enjoyed doing this so I am looking forward to creating more abstract pieces like in Gejolak,” he shared. Gejolak is Bayu’s interpretation of the feelings and emotions that swirled endlessly within humans. He said the strokes represented the strength and weakness along with the imbalances of feelings inside humans. Gejolak is his 10th solo exhibition since he launched his very first solo in 1996 at the National Art Gallery.

Other than his own work, the 46-year-old is intent on helping budding artists to succeed in an industry that is wrought with challenges. Bayu is the director of HOM Art Trans, an independent art space dedicated towards cultivating young and new artists. The organisation has three main programmes, The Residency, The Art Fund and The Art Award, to nurture, help and promote young talented Malaysian artists.

“There is a future yet for the art industry here and I am sure that one day, our artists will be able to bring this industry up to finally catch up with our neighbouring countries.”

“It is important to nurture these young artists by providing them with the means and space, otherwise it is difficult for them to flourish,” he said. He said these young artists are really talented, including those who graduated with fine art degrees. However, there were no avenue for them to flourish and succeed so many would easily give up. He recently organised group exhibitions for the young artists in Penang and Kuala Lumpur.

“Of course, all these exhibitions mean that we also needed a supportive audience to keep them motivated but unfortunately, we don’t get a lot of people who understands,” he said. The art industry in Malaysia is still growing and it will take time for the audience to really appreciate fine art like paintings and sculptures.

Bayu has been in the art industry for over 25 years and he believed that though the art industry is still growing, it is heading in the right direction. “We are still lagging behind compared to Indonesia and Manila,” he said. Art is still considered unimportant and not a priority for most people. It is not something corporations will support and many still assumed that exhibitions can only be held by those who have the money to do so.

“For me, I wanted to nurture young artists so that 10 years from now, we will have many more good artists to showcase impressive art works,” he said. With great masterpieces, he believed it will lead to progress for the art industry in Malaysia. He is also nurturing one of his children who has shown an interest in drawing.

“There is a future yet for the art industry here and I am sure that one day, our artists will be able to bring this industry up to finally catch up with our neighbouring countries,” he said. Bayu is now working on his next project, more abstract art works, and has plans to hold another solo exhibition in the near future.